Cassal is the oddity in
his family of curse workers. Everyone in his family except Cassal
has the power to work curses to change emotions, memories, and
luck. Curse work is illegal, however, so just by their very
nature, curse workers are criminals, mobsters and con artists.
Cassal is basically the good kid in a crazy family except that he
killed his best friend Lila 3 years ago. Now, nightmares about a
white cat trigger an episode of sleepwalking. His school can't
take the risk. Cassal needs to figure out a way to get back into
school. When he returns to his family, things he thought he knew
seem at odds with the discrepancies he begins to notice. Can he
figure out the mystery of the white cat? To unravel the mystery,
Cassal will have to outcon the conmen.

Holly Black's WHITE CAT, the first in The Curse Workers series, is an
intriguing entry into a new dark magical urban fantasy series.
Cassal's voice adds humor and spunk to the first person
narration. Seeing the world, especially the world of his family,
through Cassal's eyes helps a reader enter into the spirit of the
strange world while also being distant enough from it to see the humor
in the reversal of everyday norms. Cassal's tough exterior masks
a sweetness. Despite the criminal nature of his family, Cassal
longs for the many of the same things most people do, such as
acceptance by one's family. He is the outsider wanting to fit
into the group even though he has a certain skepticism about that
world. Scenes of mouse torture in the context of a betting pool,
even though brief, might disturb readers. Holly Black does
balance this with Cassal's caring actions towards the cat, but this
reader did feel troubled by the animal abuse, even that of a mouse,
especially given the connections now being made between animal abuse in
youth and later crimes. Likewise, the details of the initiation
of one crime family disturbed, but actually less than the mouse scene,
because Holly Black ties this detail to memory and a crucial moment in
the text that reveals Cassal's determination to hold onto his identity
and the truth. Throughout the book, Holly Black does an excellent
job at following earlier threads and interweaving together the various
threads.

WHITE CAT creates a fascinating world for her new series. Cassal
is a lovable albeit mischievous guy. One can't help but root for
him. He is the perfect mixture between cut-up wise guy and
sweetness. Hopefully, Holly Black will develop some of the more
fascinating ideas introduced in this book, such as the history of the
political decisions against curse workers, as the series
develops. The ending was bit sweet for my taste although it
provides a good balance to the darker world surrounding
Cassal. Despite the couple of discomforts mentioned above,
Holly Black's WHITE CAT was a wonderfully imaginative fantasy
adventure. Humorous and smart, Cassal has a way of reaching one's heart.